Vengeance of The Broken Lycan Prince [BL]-Chapter 488: You Puttin’ Up A Wall But You Ain’t Bulletproof

Chapter 488: You Puttin’ Up A Wall But You Ain’t Bulletproof

[TAMIKO]

A year had passed since that day.

A year since the day Kosta left.

And Tamiko had watched in silence as his Erasthai disappeared.

He hadn’t judged him then.

He hadn’t judged him over that year.

And he definitely wasn’t judging him today.

Granted, the hallways were a lot quieter than when they had been once upon a time, when Tamiko had his Erasthai to look at when it all was crazy, but Tamiko still hoped that Kosta would come back.

He still hoped that there would come a day when his Erasthai walked through the gates on his own and didn’t have any regrets about it. He would wait.

Gods, he would hold on for as long as Kosta needed him to. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"You’re still here," Danny said when he caught up to Tamiko, who was seated at his usual spot in the crown prince’s office.

It was the one he had always been working in, and while he had despised it always because it was the reminder of how official his position in the palace was, the past year had changed him and his perspective.

Tamiko had found a place in that office that gave him unfiltered access to the gates of Kawai. And just like every day, instead of working while looking at his door, Tamiko was working while seated on the balcony.

The balcony that faced the gates and would have him see if his Erasthai walked back in.

And Kosta would see him waiting.

Hoping.

Because Tamiko had never stopped waiting.

He would never stop waiting for his Kosta to come back.

"He’ll come back... I know it in my heart," Tamiko said, his heart clenching at the very thought of the opposite being true.

Maybe he was being a tad too optimistic.

Maybe he was trying to get through the day with hope while preparing whatever it was that Kosta might need when he came back.

Maybe Tamiko was being a hopeless romantic again, but life hadn’t exactly come with a manual that he needed to follow. That was easily the best part of all this chaos because no one could tell what to expect...

Well, except Tamiko. Probably because that was the only answer he was waiting for. Kosta had to come back.

"You do realize he set up camp a few clicks from her and that his camp is directly in view of your bed chambers, right?" Danny asked like he needed to get things clear.

Of course, Tamiko knew that.

He had spent the entire day looking for Kosta despite being out of danger just a few moments ago himself. His father wanted to stop him, but it was pointless for him to even try because Tamiko had made up his mind.

Nothing would stop him from finding his Kosta, and when he did fix Kosta, the breaths that he released were insanely freeing. It was as if the world might have gone quieter, but Kosta’s existence was just enough to keep him going.

Perhaps she was thinking too much at the time, but then, when Tamiko found Kosta, he didn’t approach. He didn’t try to tell him anything about Yilena or even what had happened when Kosta left.

He didn’t invade his space.

Instead, he let his Erasthai mourn.

For the love that had broken them.

For the life that had triggered them.

For the ultimatum that had torn them apart.

For the life that rarely meant shit to them because of the madness they were always doused in.

For the love that they had suffered through.

It had been a gamble back then, when Tamiko left Kosta and went back home with a soft understanding smile on his face. His father was a confused man, but Tamiko had never felt more alive.

His Erasthai lived.

His Kosta was not running away.

His Kosta may have turned off his humanity, but he stayed close enough to the one thing that kept him sane.

And now a year later, Tamiko still watches and waits. He still hoped that Kosta would come home to his elf, because frankly, there was nothing left that could be done to change his mind.

"I’ve been telling him that too since I woke up," Yilena’s voice came through, and Tamiko just smiled softly. So much had happened back then, a fit had ripped them apart in the worst of ways.

That day, Yilena was supposed to die. Like a decree that they had all seen coming in the craziest of ways. The woman would have died at the hands of Kosta or anyone else to save Tamiko, but then that was a long time ago.

The king had not been opposed to Kosta being the one to kill Yilena because his sister had told him that that was what the kid needed for his sanity.

But then, when Yilena offered herself up to pay for the sins of a man who didn’t give a shit about the kingdom, the king was never going to let that happen. And that was why Zaffuto did what he did.

The mad king hadn’t spent years protecting and saving his little sister just to watch her fade in the name of love. He must have known what Yilena was going to do when she walked into the room with Kosta.

The king had seen those eyes that screamed protective guardians, and when Yilena cast the spell to absorb the dark magic and curse of the ultimatum, the king hijacked it all.

And instead of Yilena dying, the king pushed the curse towards the remaining Furfantes in the kingdom. It was the only way around the life that they had built.

Maybe it was a bit extreme, but the king had chosen for them. The sanctity of the realm and the happiness of the prince mattered the most to the mad king of Kawai. It wasn’t even negotiable at this point.

"Says the one who pressed pause in his life and took and forced him to deal with the impossible," Tamiko said, his eyes never leaving that gate.

He wanted Kosta in ways that the realms didn’t know how to put into words yet.

For the past year, the barbarian bounties have been limited to areas close to Kawai, and strangely enough, most of the bounties were collected and gold earned. No one questioned how easy it was.

However, everyone in the barbarian group and the entire kingdom knew of the omega who had endured hell and had chosen peace in a time of war. They knew how hard it had to have been for Kosta, and they gave him time.

Maybe because Kosta had a long history of ducking people up if he didn’t like them, or maybe because after being in so much pain for eleven years, he just needed even a month of peace.

And Tamiko had given that to him.

Tamiko was ready to give him more.

Always.

"Also, the one who is telling you that your omega hasn’t had a heat in twelve years, which is very dangerous for him. He’s been too busy fighting demons to even focus on himself, and if this continues for another year, he will drop dead," Yilena said.

And Tamiko, who had been rolling his eyes at her the entire time she was responding, stiffened.